


From the Outside

by hermanthejanitor



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7161242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermanthejanitor/pseuds/hermanthejanitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Told from the perspective of original characters that interact with Jake and Amy, as well as some others from the precinct. Basically just Jake and Amy being really cute and how that affects other people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. David

David Benson was having a pretty good night overall. He was in a nice bar, a beer in his hand, four more in his stomach, his mates playing pool nearby. As much fun as he had with his friends though, he couldn’t help but notice that there were at least a few decent looking girls around. He scoped them out subtly, ignoring his friends as they chatted cheerfully around him. 

There was one on a table near the back, dark hair framing her face with luscious curls and intense eyes that made David shiver, with fear or something else he wasn’t sure. She was sat between a small white guy who looked like a weird cross between a toad and a rabbit and a hulking black guy, whose attention seemed to be focused on picking up his beer bottle without crushing it accidentally. He considered going over, but saw the woman pull out a hunting knife from nowhere and start flipping it nonchalantly. He quickly swiveled away, deciding that some girls were best admired from a far.

By the bar there was a brunette with a phone seemingly glued to her hand and a jacket with a rhinestone wolf on the back. She was plenty pretty, and he would have gone for it, but she seemed to be chatting to an almost offensively good-looking man, stroking his forearm playfully. He mentally wished her luck with her conquest and continued his examination of the bar.

Finally he spied a woman sitting alone at a table, quietly nursing a beer. She had long dark hair pulled into a neat ponytail, large brown eyes, and a slight smile playing across her lips. She seemed to be checking messages on her phone, and David decided that she needed some company. He stood up clumsily, feeling his fifth beer rush to his head as he lurched over as casually as he could.  
“Hi there” he began, sliding into the seat next to the girl “how’s it going?”  
She frowned at him, something David may have taken as a bad sign if he was a little more sober.  
“I’m ok thanks” she didn’t continue the conversation, just looked at him expectantly.  
“You wanna know what I was thinking?” David shot her a winning smile.  
“That breath mints are over-rated?”  
“Wha?” David cocked his head at her, confused.  
“Nothing.”  
“I was thinking” David drawled, taking her silence as an invitation to continue, “that you are far too pretty to be sitting here alone.”  
She sighed and looked directly at him for the first time.  
“Look, you seem very nice but I’m not here alone. And even if I was, I’m perfectly happy to sit here by myself, thanks for your concern. Now, if you could just-”  
“Who ya here with?” David looked around theatrically “cos I don’t see anyone.”  
The girl was about to respond when she spotted something behind David. A smile broke over her face and David couldn’t help but think that it was one of the nicest things he’d ever seen.  
“Hey” a voice interrupted David’s musings “how’s it going man?”  
David spun around in his seat, almost over balancing as he looked up to see a man with short, slightly curly brown hair looking down at him, his arms folded across a blue plaid button up.  
“Hi” David him the stink eye, trying to scare the guy off his chosen prize.  
“I think you’re in my seat” the guy gave David a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. David didn’t care.  
“You should have put your name on it.”  
“I would, but the last time I labeled stuff it made my hotdog taste really weird. Also, I think there’s a really nice chair over there, I bet you’ll have loads of fun throwing up on it later” he gestured to a seat in the corner of the room and nodded encouragingly. David was starting to find his cockiness irritating.  
“Nah man, I’m ok here. Besides” he turned to leer at the girl, who had watched the exchange with a mixture of amusement and annoyance “you don’t want me to leave, do ya doll?”  
She gave him a contemptuous look before exchanging a look with Cocky Guy “sure you can stay, I’m heading off though.”  
The girl stood, gathering her things quickly.  
“Aw, ok doll, I can take a hint. Of course I’ll go home with you, you just had to ask” David smiled to himself, enjoying his own wit. He stood up and took a step towards the girl, who set her jaw and tightened her fists.  
“Yeah, you’re really not getting the vibe here Buddy” Cocky Guy stepped between David and the girl “I’m Jake, this is my _girlfriend_ Amy, though even if she were as single as a pringle I don’t think this would be your lucky night.”  
David glared at Cocky Guy, feeling anger starting to rise within him. _I am way better looking than this guy, and I got here first, what right does this this chump have to deny me my good time_.  
“You got a boyfriend?” David talked around Cocky Guy, giving his best smoldering look to the girl “ya know Doll, that’s easily fixed. Maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight if you had a night with a real man-”  
That was as far as he got before a fist buried itself in his face. 

The next thing David knew, he was on the floor, blinking groggily up at the two figures standing over him.  
“Oh my god Ames did you seriously just do that? That was so hot! Are you ok though? That was so hot!”  
“Calm down Jake, it was warranted.”  
“I’m not arguing, I’m just saying that it was hardly behaviour expected of Miss ‘Most Appropriate’. Oh, and that that was so hot!”  
“You were about to do it anyway, I just beat you to it.”  
“True, I was really looking forward to punching him in the face. If he’s still awake is that grounds for me to kick him in the head? I could say that he was resisting being unconscious or something. Is that a thing?”  
“No it’s not, you’re just going to have to accept the fact that I beat you to it this time. Don’t worry, the next time a sleazy guy hits on me, he’s all yours.”  
“Aw, you’re the best Babe.”  
By this point David’s head had stopped spinning enough for him to prop himself up on his elbows.  
“What the fu-”  
“What’s going on guys?” the scary girl, the little white guy and the big black guy had come over, and stood with couple looking down at David.  
“Amy just kicked a guy’s ass, and it was super hot” the guy wrapped his arm around the girl’s waist, pulling her to him and kissing the top of her head.  
“Hah, Amy punched a guy” Scary Girl snorted, nudging David none too gently with her foot, making him grunt with pain.  
“Are you ok Amy? Were you defending Jake’s honour?” Little Guy looked between the two of them, a mixture of concern and elation in his voice.  
“I’m fine Charles, I’ve punched my brothers harder than that” the girl smiled reassuringly.  
Cocky Guy adjusted himself so he was standing directly behind the girl, both arms around her and his face next to her ear. Softly enough so only she, and David who was lying at their feet and didn’t really have a choice, could hear he muttered “you make me harder than that.”  
The girl elbowed the guy playfully but leant against him, a smile tugging at her mouth.  
“Screw this” David started swearing to himself as he staggered to his feet, none of the people surrounding him offering to help.  
“Ok, I think it’s time for you to go” Big Guy took David’s arm firmly and led him to the door. For a second David considered resisting, but the man looked like he could snap David’s arm off with a thought. _Besides_ , David thought resentfully, _the girl wasn’t worth all this trouble; she wasn’t that hot and clearly didn’t have the best judgment if she was with that cocky idiot_.

David lay in the cool night air in the alley next to the bar; having been too discombobulated from the alcohol and punch to the face to make it very far once Big Guy had pushed him out the door. He was gradually gathering his energy and brainpower to move when he heard voices.  
“Mine or yours?” a familiar female voice came from outside the bar.  
“I don’t care, whichever’s closer,” a familiar male voice almost growled in response.  
“You don’t remember which one’s closer?”  
“I don’t care Amy” the guy whined, “I just want to bone down until we’re both walking funny.”  
“I can tell.”  
“You’ll be able to tell a hell of a lot more once we get home.”  
“Jake” the girl let out a breathy laugh “we’ll never find a cab if you keep grabbing me like that.”  
“These are the sacrifices that must be made if you insist on being this sexy, it’s your own fault. In fact-” the guy’s voice was suddenly cut off, and David heard the scrabbling of footsteps entering the alley. He was far enough in the shadows to remain unnoticed by the couple, and too far past caring to move. He glanced over to them curiously. The girl had the guy pinned up against the wall and was kissing him passionately, the guy responding enthusiastically.  
Finally, they broke apart, both breathing hard.  
“What was that for?” the guy almost gasped.  
“I don’t know” the girl stroked his collar teasingly “I guess I must find you pretty sexy too. Also, that guy just reminded me how lucky I am to have such a sweet, caring boyfriend. One who uses breath mints.”  
“Of course I use breath mints” the guy scoffed “how else would I avoid brushing my teeth?”  
“I know you’re joking, but god you’re annoying” the girl gave the guy’s hair a short tug, making him let out a half-sigh half-groan.  
“You know what else is annoying? The fact that we’re not naked at home yet.” The guy pulled the girl closer.  
“What a coincidence, I think that’s annoying too!” the girl replied in a mock-surprised tone.  
“Oh my god, twinsies!” the guy replied with a mega-watt grin. The girl’s laugh turned into a stifled moan as the guy went to work on her neck.  
“Ok, joking aside” the girl mumbled against her partner’s skin “if we don’t get home in the next ten minutes I will have to make you take your shirt off in the taxi.”  
“Right, right, we’re going” the guy dragged the girl out of the alley by the hand.  
David lay in the dark, blinked up at the moon, and reflected on how his night had gone so bad so quickly. The couple, in their own little world, didn’t care.


	2. Doris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got a little deeper than I was planning, but I hope you still enjoy it!

Doris Langleigh was sad. She had a dozen different reasons to justify being sad if someone asked her, from the stiffness in her hip to the laziness of the people in her life. Take her grandson for example, he hadn’t picked up her favourite pastries as requested, but opted instead to take his girlfriend to dinner. The real reason for Doris’ sadness though was that she was 82 and, for one of the first times in her life, she felt it. She didn’t know why today of all days her age would suddenly hit her, but it had, and she didn’t like it. So, as she hobbled through the park on a warm summer’s day towards her small home, she didn’t look cheerfully around at the chirping birds and lush grass in the almost empty park as was her norm, but rather stared dully at her feet. 

Suddenly her reverie was interrupted by an unusually loud shout of laughter from nearby. Doris glanced up disinterestedly, and stopped in her tracks when she found the culprits of the laugh.  
Not too far away there was a woman clinging to a kite string, as the kite itself spun through the air above her head. Behind her there was a man, doubled over in laughter, watching the woman in her struggles.  
Doris felt an odd stirring inside her, a smile almost reaching her mouth and her eyes crinkling at the simple scene. Without really knowing what she was doing, she departed from her path and wandered over to a bench close to the couple. She sat herself down and, without really thinking about it, pulled out her sunglasses and a book from her bag. She deliberately placed the sunglasses on her nose and opened her book randomly, angling her head so that to an innocent passerby it would appear that she was diligently reading.  
The man was still laughing at the woman at this point, but from this close Doris could see the brightness in his eyes, as if he was looking at his own personal sun. Finally he seemed to take pity on the woman. He wrapped his arms around her, fitting his hands over hers as she held the kite spool.  
“Ok Ames, first off you have to relax. It’s a kite, pulling at it like that won’t make it behave. Secondly, you should bring it up higher so it can get more of a breeze.”  
Slowly and carefully the man helped the woman coax the kite higher and higher, until finally it ceased bobbing and weaving and hung peacefully in the air. Doris watched the woman visibly relax as the man spoke and wrapped himself around her, trying to force back a smile.  
“I had it under control” the woman tossed her head, clearly less annoyed than she was pretending.  
“Totally” the man chuckled “that’s why it looked like you were doing a spot on impression of Skully when he swallowed a bee. Or maybe it was just an awful Michael Jackson impression, it was hard to tell to be honest.”  
The woman rolled her eyes “shut up Jake, this was your idea in the first place.”  
“Well, what was I supposed to do, you’d never flown a kite before!”  
“My parents had eight children, something as flimsy as a kite wouldn’t have lasted two seconds!”  
“Still though, it would be like never watching Die Hard.”  
“Well…”  
“No, don’t even try that, I know you’ve seen it and pretending that you haven’t is cruel.”  
“Alright” the woman replied with a laugh, leaning into the man’s arms “big baby.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as Doris watched them, still unsure why she was so fascinated by the peaceful scene. A gentle breeze ruffled the couple’s hair and clothes, the kite string tugged at their joint hands playfully, the sunlight caressed their faces affectionately. Doris wasn’t sure if it was the summer’s day or something else, but the couple just seemed brighter and more alive than any she had encountered in the park previously. The woman watched the kite soaring in the sky with a look of wonder, letting out giggles when the wind pulled it higher. The man seemed to be doing his best to watch the kite as well, but inexorably his gaze always seemed to be drawn back to the woman in his arms. The grin that had spread across his face when he had got the kite under control was replaced by a gentler, more tender expression. He kissed the top of the woman’s head and tightened his arms around her slightly before returning his attention to the kite. The look of contentment on their faces made Doris’ heart clench.

Suddenly the wind in the park picked up, wrenching the kite from the woman’s hands and sending it wheeling away, spiraling and looping haphazardly. The woman let out a cry of dismay and, in a futile effort, tried to chase after it. The kite was well out of her reach however, and twisted through the air high above, before crashing into a tree fifty meters away. The woman stopped in her tracks, stunned and upset, even from this distance able to tell that the kite had broken in two.  
“Damn it!” she crossed her arms and glared at the offending tree “I was just getting the hang of it! I was going to be the best kite flyer in the park and join competitions and…” she trudged back over to the man, still muttering to herself about her lost kiting potential.  
The man looked down at her pouty expression, clearly trying desperately to hold in his laughter, before suddenly it burst out of him. He clutched his stomach and fell backwards, sniggers wracking his body as he grinned up at his partner’s disapproving expression. Finally he seemed able to calm himself down enough to reach up and grab the woman’s hand, tugging at her until she was sitting on the grass next to him.  
“Aw, Ames, you should have seen your face!” he chortled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  
The woman glared at him “it’s not funny Jake, I really liked that kite.”  
“Don’t worry about it, we can get another one, a less fragile one.” His eyes lit up “one with fireworks and lasers and-”  
“I am 100% sure those don’t exist, and if they did, I don’t think you should be allowed within 200 feet of one” the woman nudged the man with her shoulder “besides, if we’re getting another one we’re doing it right, with folders and binders and subcategories to take into account efficacy of flight against length of flight against durability…”  
The man snorted and shook his head at the woman “you are so consistent.”  
She poked her tongue out in response and made as if to get up.  
“Where do you think you’re going?” the man pulled her back down by the hand and smirked at her.  
“We need to collect the kite and head home, we’re meeting Charles and Genevieve for dinner.”  
“We could do that” the man considered “or I could tell Charles that we’ll have dinner an hour later and we can stay here for a bit longer.”  
“Are you sure he wouldn’t mind?”  
“Come on, it’s Charles. I once got out of going to a restaurant serving fried bird beaks with him by saying I was too busy organizing cutlery with you, and he just said ‘whoo, go Jakey!’ and sent me a congratulatory gift basket.”  
“Is that the time he hugged me as soon as I got into work?”  
“Yep. Now come on Babe, please can we chill here for a while?”  
“We could, I suppose…” the woman pretended to think it over “ok, on one condition” she shot him a mischievous look, he raised an eyebrow warily “if we’re going to laze around in the park all day, I’m going to make a daisy chain and you have to wear it, and let me take a photo of you wearing it.”  
He considered before nodding “fine.”  
“And it has to be a proper photo, as in up close, and I have to be able to see the daisy chain on your head.”  
The man made a disappointed sound, his plan clearly foiled. Finally he sighed and laid back, his head on the woman’s lap.  
“Do your worst Santiago.”  
She grinned triumphantly and started picking daisies from nearby, the man watching her through half closed eyes.

All through this exchange Doris continued to quietly pretend to read her book, her attention pretty much solely focused on the young couple. They either didn’t notice her sitting a few meters away from them, or else didn’t mind, and Doris was glad. They made such a happy pair; she would have been upset if her presence had broken through their bubble.  
As Doris watched them, she felt a tear roll down her face.  
The man seemed to be drifting in and out of sleep in the dozy afternoon sunshine, but from time to time he peeked up at the woman and his hand reaching up to play with her hair. The woman was focusing intently on her growing daisy chain, but glanced down at the man in her lap every couple minutes and smiled to herself, stroking his face intermittently.  
_Why is this making me cry?_ Doris asked herself _they’re so happy_ …and that’s when she realized why she wasn’t feeling herself today, why she had been so drawn in by the couple, why she couldn’t tear herself away now.  
_7 years ago today Gregory died_ , the thought echoed through her head, dragging another tear from her eye, _we used to be just like this couple, and now he’s gone_ .  
At first the thought filled her with overwhelming sadness, the death of her husband of almost 50 years hitting her as freshly as if it had just happened yesterday. After a moment though, as Doris surveyed the couple in front of her; the way they looked at each other, the way they naturally gravitated towards one another, the way they seemed to communicate just with looks, all reminded her of the better times, times when Gregory had been beside her to face the trials of life.  
_And that’s not a bad thing_ Doris thought _to be reminded of the good times. This couple has their whole lives ahead of them to make each other happy, which is just what Gregory and I did._  
The couple, clearly unaware of Doris’ musings, were muttering to each other. The man said something and the girl let out a laugh, the man grinning at the sound. She murmured a response and he chuckled, glancing up and meeting her eye. She looked down at him with such affection that it made Doris’ heart ache, but in a good way.  
Doris decided that it was past time she left the couple alone, standing and starting to shuffle homewards as before. This time though, there was a lightness in her step and a smile crinkling her face. Her hip bothered her less, and she had decided that she could forgive her grandson for wanting to spend time with his girlfriend. Another laugh from behind her spurred her forward; there were things to do, people to see, binders to organize.  
_And_ she reminded herself _somewhere out there there’s a man with a big smile and bigger heart, watching out for me, and one day I’ll see him again._


	3. Keith

Keith Shepard hated his job. He was being paid basically nothing to stand around for the next five hours and watch whiney kids beg their miserable parents for money to play the games that blared grating music from all sides. There was screaming and shouting and laughing and occasionally swearing, usually at Keith.  
It wasn’t all kids in the arcade though, there were teenagers pretending to enjoy the games ironically, bored employees from other stores in the mall, and adults with nothing better to do with their lives.  
_Like this couple ___Keith glowered inwardly at a man and a woman at the air hockey table, _why can’t they go away and pretend to enjoy boring movies like everyone else their age? ___  
He had to admit though; they did look like they were having fun. The guy had scruffy brown hair, a leather jacket, and a grin plastered over his face that the Cheshire cat would have envied. By contrast, everything about the girl was neat, from her perfectly brushed hair to her subtle make up, but her eyes gleamed with childlike excitement as she played. She seemed to be trying to concentrate on the game, but the guy was keeping up an ongoing commentary, adding in random accents and making exaggerated sound effects when he hit the puck. The girl apparently couldn’t help but let out breathless giggles, even as she did her best to ignore the guy’s comments.  
As the game progressed, and the guy’s antics became more and more extravagant, the girl seemed to be finding it increasingly difficult to focus, occasionally breaking into full-on laughs that split her attention enough to let the guy score.  
“Stop it Jake!” the girl gasped as the guy got another point, trying to get her breathing under control through her laughter “you’re not being fair, I can’t play if you keep distracting me!”  
The guy leaned forward on the table, smiling smugly at the girl “it’s not my fault you find me so distracting.”  
“Shut up” the girl rolled her eyes “come on, we’re tied now, you have to play this last point properly. Unless you’re afraid I’ll kick your ass too easily when you’re not behaving like an idiot?”  
“Oh, it’s so on” the guy snorted, waggling his eyebrows dramatically.  
They started the final point and the guy did as instructed, focusing entirely on the game. The air between them seemed almost electric as they both fiercely watched the puck whizz around the table, each reacting with impressive quickness whenever their goal was threatened. The tense silence was punctuated by exclamations of frustration from the players, neither willing to give the other a chance. Finally the girl scored, letting out a whoop of delight and breaking into a comically ridiculous dance. The guy glared at her, but even from where he was standing Keith could see the smile threatening to spread over the man’s face, and the twinkle in his eye. The girl almost skipped over to the guy, tossing her head and grinning up at him.  
“Don’t be sad Jake, I’m sure criminals will still run away from you, even if you are a loser.”  
The guy leant back against the table, folding his arms and still pretending to be mad.  
“It wasn’t fair, the sun was in my eyes.”  
“We’re indoors.”  
“There was a kid looking at me.”  
“Not true.”  
“My dog ate my homework?” he tried lamely.  
“Nope.”  
“Fine” the guy finally let his smile overtake his face “good game.”  
He wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and they walked away from the table, the girl laughing when the guy muttered something to her. The look on his face when he made her laugh was almost absurdly happy. 

__Keith shook himself, realizing that a small grin had snuck its way onto his face. He had been staring at this couple for far too long, and it had sparked a kind of lightness in him that he couldn’t explain.  
_Must be going soft ___, he derided himself. He was turning to get back to work when he heard the guy exclaim, “oh my God, Ames, can we play? Please!”  
Keith glanced over at the couple, now standing next to one of the shooting games, the guy almost jumping on the spot as the girl watched him, amused. She had this air about her that she was used to such untethered exuberance, but the softness in her eyes made Keith think that she wasn’t complaining.  
“Fine” the girl picked up the red plastic gun, weighing it in her hand thoughtfully “but _then ___we have to get back to finding a present for Gina.”  
“Deal. You’re the best Babe!” the guy planted a kiss on the girl’s cheek, making her laugh and shove him playfully, before he picked up the blue gun and turned his attention to the game.  
“Let’s kick some robot alien butt!” 

______Keith watched, speechless, as the pair battled their way through the eleven levels of ‘Alien Mega Invasion 4’. They worked flawlessly together, covering one another against spiked tentacles and glowing alien eggs, moving forward expertly and efficiently. The couple barely spoke, seemingly able to read what the other was thinking before they even moved, occasionally calling out a warning or a commendation when the other made a particularly difficult shot. They more than doubled the game’s high score, sending off flashing lights as tickets streamed out of the machine.  
When they defeated the final boss the girl whooped, jumping in triumph and pumping her fist in the air.  
“Take that, Hyblosian scum!” the guy jeered the game as he high-fived the girl, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaning into her. The girl laughingly did the same, triumph and affection mixing on her face. The two collected their tickets and wandered over to the front desk, where Keith was still watching them.  
“Hi, what would this many tickets get us?” the girl addressed Keith, almost making him jump with surprise at being spoken to by someone he had been watching silently for the past half an hour.  
“Uh…” Keith considered their pile “a jumbo prize.” He gestured at a range of oversized plush toys. _No it doesn’t! ___Keith mentally screamed at himself _what am I doing? They’d need at least another 20 for a jumbo prize. ___  
“Seriously?” the guy grinned “sweet!”  
“Which one do you want?” the girl turned to him.  
“It’s ok, you can choose.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous Jake” the girl snorted “I know you know which one you want, and I don’t mind, so just pick.” The guy still seemed hesitant, so the girl studied his face and turned back to Keith.  
“We’ll take the dragon please.” Keith nodded, handing her the bright red dragon and trying to hide his own amusement at the couple’s interactions. The girl passed the dragon to the guy, who just grinned. He had this ridiculous gooey look in his eyes that usually would have made Keith want to barf, but for some reason instead it just warmed his heart.  
They thanked Keith and turned away, walking towards the arcade’s exit.  
“So what do you want to name it?” the girl asked, laughing as the guy hugged the fluffy dragon to his chest.  
“Snuggles. Or Smolderwrath the Destroyer. Or Chester. Or…. oh, I know!” the guy held the dragon up in front of him proudly “Dragon McClane!”  
“Of course, the great vanquisher of the Gruber Goblin?”  
“Exactly!” the guy grabbed the girl’s hand as they left the arcade, leaving Keith to stare after them.  
He felt oddly empty now, as if the couple had taken all the warmth with them. Keith surveyed the arcade, watching disinterestedly as people ambled from machine to machine, all seeming dull and lifeless in comparison to the couple. The couple had just seemed to enjoy themselves more than anyone else, reveling unapologetically in their own happiness. _Why can’t I be like that? ___Keith asked himself, listlessly staring at the arcade’s exit, imagining what it would be like to be that contented. Suddenly, as if a light bulb had turned on in Keith’s head, he knew what he had to do.

______He marched into his boss’ office and quit. His boss stared and shouted and berated him, but Keith didn’t back down. _I don’t want to work in an arcade ___he explained, _I want to try new things, find something I really love ___, he was saying this as much to himself as to his boss. A stream of curse words followed him out of the arcade, but he didn’t care._ _ _ _ _ _

________________Keith trotted through the mall with a spring in his step, considering the opportunities his newfound freedom presented. He stopped in his tracks when he heard familiar voices.  
“Yes, I like that dress, yes, very much, yes.”  
Keith glanced into the shop he was passing and saw the guy from the arcade sat in a chair, his eyes glued to something out of Keith’s range of vision. His curiosity getting the better of him, Keith entered the store. He carefully circled around until he was concealed from the couple by a row of clothes before glancing over. The guy was still sitting, staring at the girl in front of him, who had changed into a dark red dress that delicately flowed over her supple frame. Keith had to admit that it suited her, fitting her curves as if it had been designed with her in mind. The guy, for his part, was watching her as if his life depended on it.  
“You sure?” the girl studied herself in the mirror, spinning to see how the dress moved.  
“Sure, sure, yes I am very sure.” The guy’s voice had become oddly strained; he nodded vigorously and swallowed visibly as the girl spun again.  
“This is Gina’s party we’re talking about, Jake. If she doesn’t like my dress, she will make me change. The last time that happened she just gave me a leopard print leotard and some tights.”  
“That’s nice too…” the guy was studying the girl with the intensity of a lion stalking its prey. He stood and wrapped his arms around her from behind, nuzzling into her neck slightly. Keith caught the soft expression that crossed the girl’s face at the contact. She reached up and played with the guy’s hair, her eyes still fixed on the mirror.  
“It’s an amazing dress Ames. It’s stupendous. It’s verging on unsafe for you to wear it in front of me.”  
A slow smile spread across the girl’s face “but Gina-”  
“Forget about Gina, I’ll have that off you by the end of the night.”  
The girl let out a soft laugh, moving her fingers from the guy’s hair to his neck. The guy leaned forward and murmured something in her ear, the girl letting out a kind of hum in response.  
Keith would have felt bad for intruding upon such a private moment, but he felt invested in the couple for some reason. Their affection seemed to mollify something hard and bitter inside him, making him want to whistle and skip.  
A shop assistant came over to the couple, making them spring apart almost guiltily as she asked them a question. They nodded and the shop assistant left. The girl returned to the changing rooms, the guy’s gaze following her as she walked away. Keith suspected that a crazed elephant could have burst into the shop and the guy’s attention would have remained on the girl. 

________________When the girl returned she was in the clothes she had been wearing previously, the dress draped over one arm.  
“Hey Baaaaaabe, quick question” the guy spoke up, his tone overly casual as the girl gathered her things “since we’ve got Gina’s present, and that spectacular, amazing, great, very good dress, can we go home now?”  
“Um…” the girl responded thoughtfully “I think there’s one more shop I want to check out before we go.”  
“Can’t it wait?” the guy whined, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to him “I really, really want to get you home….” His voice dropped, and Keith could have sworn he had seen the girl shiver at his tone.  
“I don’t know Jake, I really need something from this shop.”  
“What shop is it?” the guy pouted, rubbing a hand up and down her arm.  
The girl’s gaze flicked up to meet his, a wicked smile flickering over her face “Victoria’s Secret.”  
The guy’s eyes seemed to almost bug out of his head, his breath quickening noticeably. He licked his lips and just managed to stutter “y-yeah?”  
“Uh-huh” the girl replied, wrapping her arms around his waist as she met his dark gaze unflinchingly.  
“R-right” the guy swallowed “ok, I think I can wait for you to do that…”  
“That’s very considerate of you” the girl grinned at him, leaning forward just a little more into the guy’s space, their lips almost touching, before turning and walking away. The guy stood there, blinking and running his hand through his har for a few seconds before shaking himself and jogging after his partner.  
Keith watched them go, a fuzzy feeling blooming inside him. He pulled out his phone, scrolled down to a name on his contact list with a little heart next to it, and tapped it.  
“Hey, Andrew” he said when he heard a voice answer “I was just wondering…would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” 

________As Keith walked out of the store, a smile almost breaking his face, he couldn’t help but glance over at the couple by the checkout counter, leaning against each other slightly and laughing. He silently wished them luck as he left the mall, feeling the sunlight warm his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	4. Tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's got a bit of angst to it, with mentions of violence, hope it's still enjoyable though!

Tyler Dolton’s day started out well enough. He had just received his first assignment since changing precincts, a chance to get his adrenalin flowing and his heart rate pounding. As he geared up with the rest of the team he wondered who would lead them on this particular operation. Would it be the glowering lady with eyes like pools of death and despair? The small chattering man whom always smelt faintly of fish guts? The muscular Sargent who referred to himself in third person? To be honest Tyler didn’t like any of his options. Aside from the Captain, he was yet to find anyone at the station he could really respect.  
Tyler was a competent field operative, and he was loath to put faith in anyone but himself. He considered himself far better qualified to lead than any of his commanding officers, and was resentful of anyone who tried to tell him otherwise. His mother used to say that the only thing bigger than Tyler’s hulking frame was his ego. Tyler didn’t like his mother much.

Anyway, as he filed into the nondescript van he realized that he was going to be under the command of his least favourite detective. The man was of average build with short hair and a constant grin, his endless torrent of drivel and pop culture references only halted when he was chewing loudly on something wildly unhealthy. He was apparently widely considered the best detective in the precinct, he held the record for the most arrests, and was renowned for his time undercover in the mafia. Tyler was yet to see any evidence that the reputation was deserved. As far as he could tell, the guy was just a babbling moron who didn’t take his job seriously enough to stop cracking jokes. Tyler had slightly higher regard for the secondary on the case, a neatly dressed Hispanic woman with a ponytail, but he considered her too much of a teacher’s pet to be any good as a leader. The woman chatted easily to the idiot on the drive to the sting; the two laughing and gossiping like two old ladies at Sunday brunch.  
 _If I were a detective_ Tyler thought bitterly _I would be preparing myself for the operation, not distracting my partner and wasting energy with idle blathering._

Finally they reached their target, a brownstone rumoured to be the hideout of a gang of bank robbers, a violent group the squad had been tracking for months. The idiot finally seemed to focus on the task at hand, giving orders and passing out assignments as the team gave their equipment a final check. Tyler was to go in the front with the two detectives, the rest of the team covering other potential exits.   
Stealthily the group separated into their units, moving as quietly as possible in their heavy vests. Tyler waited on the front steps of the brownstone behind the detectives, who started whispering to each other furiously.  
“Come on Jake, I let you breach last time.”  
“It was a sting on a fashion designer smuggling drugs, if I didn’t bust in and say ‘under arrest is the new black’, no one would have!”  
“And how would the world have survived without that?”  
“It would have been less awesome place.”  
“Seriously Jake, I want to be first on the door for this one.”  
“Fine, but only if we get Sal’s tonight.”  
“Sure” the woman chuckled as they finally took their positions, radioing the other units to prepare to breach.   
“Go!” the idiot gave the order and the woman kicked in the door efficiently, raising her gun and stepping through while shouting “NYPD!”. The man followed on her heels.  
That was when it all went wrong. There was the crack of a gunshot, a cry of shock and pain, a man screaming “Amy!”  
Tyler ran in after the detectives, and saw the woman sprawled on the ground, unmoving, while the idiot grappled with an assailant a few meters away. Tyler was about to come to his aid when the idiot let loose an upper cut that slammed into his attacker’s jaw with impressive strength. The man fell to the ground, the idiot following him and laying more punches into the man’s exposed face.  
Through the crackling radio the other units reported the successful capture of the four other members of the gang, but still the idiot didn’t let up.  
“Detective!” Tyler grabbed the idiot’s shoulder, stopping him mid swing. The man glared up at Tyler, his eyes burning with rage that seemed entirely alien on his usually cheerful face. His gaze overflowed with hatred, which Tyler hoped was directed at the criminal pinned underneath the man rather than himself, but for an instant he wasn’t so sure. The three of them were frozen for a moment; Tyler staring down at the detective, the detective scowling back up at him, the robber groaning with pain on the ground.  
“Jake?” a quavering voice came from near the doorway. In a flash the man was next to the prone body of the woman, seemingly forgetting Tyler and the criminal he had just been thrashing.  
“Ames, are you ok?” his voice was gentle, but tight with concern, all traces of the unbridled fury from before evaporating. He carefully patted his partner down, checking for signs of blood.   
A young woman, another member of the assault team, appeared at the door and the detective snapped his eyes up to her.  
“Get me a medic in here, now!” he ordered. The woman turned pale and scrambled to comply, clearly intimidated by the more experienced officer.  
The detective turned his attention back to his partner, his hands cupping her face, stroking the hair back from her forehead.  
“Yeah, I’m ok” she was murmuring, “a couple inches higher and I think the bullet would have hit my neck and not the vest, but as it is I’m fine.”  
“But when you fell-”   
“It was at almost pointblank range, Jake, it was just the force of the shot. I think I’m going to have some pretty colourful bruises, but nothing’s broken.” The woman looked up at her partner, her expression gentle “don’t worry Jake, it’s all ok.”  
She reached up and stroked the man’s cheek, his face softening from a mixture of panic and fear to relief, tinged with guilt.  
“If I hadn’t let you go in first-”  
“Then you would be the one on the ground and I’d be the one freaking out. Trust me, I’m happy that it’s this way round.”  
“I’m not.”  
“I know, Jake” the woman’s hand moves to her partner’s hair, her fingers getting lost in the brown curls “but there’s nothing to freak out about.”  
To prove her point the woman slowly sat up, wincing with pain. The man wrapped his arm around her shoulders, supporting her weight as she cautiously rose to her feet. She paused for a moment to gain her bearings before looking up at her anxious helper and smiling. He moved away slightly, giving her some space, but still within touching distance.

During this exchange Tyler had cuffed the perp, who had been swearing profusely about his broken nose and teeth, before pushing him towards one of the other officers that passed by. He glanced back over at the detectives.  
The woman was shaking herself off, composing her face into a businesslike expression and turning to talk to one of the officers for details of the breach. The man did the same, speaking into his radio for updates from the rest of the team. His eyes never left his partner though, watching her with the intensity of a drowning man spotting dry land and trying not to let it slip away.  
Without looking over he ordered Tyler to join in a sweep of the house, meaning that he lost sight of the two detectives in the hubbub of searching the brownstone for the stolen money. Eventually the wads of a hundred dollar bills were discovered deposited underneath a rotting plank, Tyler’s elation at the find only tempered by his memory of two dark eyes blazing up at him, anger and pain melding in their depths.

Outside the brownstone Tyler searched for the detectives to give them news of the recovered cash, finding them giving their report to the Sargent.  
“The operation was successful Sarge, all five of the gang members were captured with no serious injury to any party. The team is searching the premises now for the money” the woman was saying.  
At the phrase ‘serious injury’, the male detective, who was already standing nearer to his partner than was strictly necessary, shuffled a couple inches closer to her.  
“Detectives” Tyler approached the trio cautiously “we have found the money in its entirety underneath the floor of the bathroom, it’s being bagged now.”  
“Nice one, Dolton” the man nodded at Tyler.  
“Come on, Jake, you’re not going to make some joke about the booty being found in the toilet?” the woman nudged the man playfully, though her eyes belied her uneasiness at her partner’s sullen expression.  
The male detective let a feeble smile cross his face “I would, but it’d make you flush.”  
“That was weak” the woman rolled her eyes, but seemed relieved.   
Tyler assumed that he had been dismissed and went to help the rest of the team finish their sweep, trying to put the male detective out of his mind.

It wasn’t until Tyler was heading back to the precinct that he saw the detectives again. He rounded the corner of the brownstone, planning on using the small alleyway as a shortcut back to the van when he spotted them. Instead of passing them or retreating as would have been expected, Tyler stopped. He was concealed from the couple by a dumpster, but could just about see them over the pile of black bin bags.  
The man had pinned the woman against the wall, one hand interwoven in her hair and the other pressing into her waist, his mouth moving against hers with a feverish intensity. The other detective was responding in kind, her arms wrapped around the man’s neck, pulling him to her.   
After a few seconds the fervent kiss broke off, the pair resting their foreheads together and panting. The man rested his arm against the wall above the woman’s head, leaning into her with his eyes still closed.  
“Jake-” the woman began, her voice gentle.  
“Just give me a sec, Ames, I just need…” his voice trailed off as he went in for another kiss, this one much more tender than the first, as if he were afraid that if he pushed too hard she would fade to nothing.   
Finally he leant backwards, still pressing the woman into the wall, his hands cupping the woman’s face as he searched her eyes.  
“Are you _sure_ you’re ok?”  
“Yes, Jake” the woman sighed “I’ve told you a hundred times already, I’m fine. We’ve both been hurt worse than that in the field before, remember when you cracked three ribs chasing that perp over those cars?”  
“I know, it’s just…I thought I’d lost you, Ames, for a second I didn’t know if…” the man didn’t seem to be able to finish his sentence, avoiding his partner’s gaze as his fingers stroked her cheek.  
“You didn’t though, Jake” the woman forced him to look up at her, shooting him a comforting smile “I would probably be feeling the exact way if it had been you on the ground instead of me, but there’s no point worrying over what might have happened. Besides, I was scared too; the thought of being separated from you terrifies me. And so does, you know, dying.”  
The man almost chuckled at her tone, his facial muscles relaxing slightly. The woman wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a tight hug, he went willingly, burying his face in her neck sliding his hands across her back. Eventually they released each other, the man regaining some semblance of his usual flippancy.  
“So that’s another major bust for Peralta, what have you achieved this week, Santiago?”  
“Hey, this was my bust too” the woman shot him a mock angry look.  
“Did I misread the file? Are you the primary? No? Didn’t think so.”  
“Well I got that car thief last week, that was some great police work. A monkey could have tracked down these guys. Oh wait, he did,” the woman retorted. The man let out a snort, light dancing in his dark eyes as if her insults were reviving him.  
“How about this; we’re each going to be assigned a new case now, whoever solves their case first wins.”  
“Interesting bet. Wins what?”  
“Ummm” the man considered “if I win you have sex with me.”  
“And if I win?”  
“I have sex with you.”  
“Tough odds” the woman pretended to consider the proposition “does that mean that we won’t have sex until one of us finishes our case?”  
“No, no, no, no” the man shook his head vigorously “we’re playing for supplementary sex. Extra intercourse. Bonus boning.”  
“Alright, you’ve got yourself a bet.”  
“It’s on, Santiago,” the man started to make his way down the alley, the woman by his side.  
“You’re mine, Peralta.”  
“I know.”  
The woman shouldered her partner playfully, continuing to lean against him slightly as the pair exited the alley.

Tyler stood stock still for a moment, a small smile creeping across his face. He didn’t know when, but at some point the idiot had gained his respect. Maybe it was due to his efficacy when leading the team, or his dedication to his job. Tyler suspected however, it had been the man’s ferocity when defending his partner that had changed his mind. Tyler had seen such depth of emotion in the man’s eyes when he thought someone he cared about was in danger, such pain and aggression, showing himself to be far more than the moronic goofball Tyler had first taken him for.  
Tyler imagined for an instant having that kind of rage directed against him, and he shivered. Maybe that was one idiot you’d want on your side in a crisis.


	5. Ruth

Ruth Pepperman liked her neighbour. He was a nice boy, an officer with the NYPD, and he always smiled at her when he passed her in the hall. She could never remember his name; she didn’t talk to him enough to need to, this was New York after all, but she still liked him.   
She reminded herself of this as she tottered down the corridor leading from her apartment to his, trying to push down her frustration at being woken up at 2:34 in the morning. Ruth gave a polite rap on the boy’s door, waiting a few seconds before knocking again. The strange sounds from within the apartment ceased, but she had to repeat the tap once more before she received a response.

She heard the shuffling of feet and stepped back, waiting patiently as the door was pulled just wide enough for the boy to stick his torso around. He was standing very oddly, leaning against the doorframe so she could only see him from the waist up. His top half looked unusual enough though, his customary plaid shirt buttoned incorrectly, and his hair abnormally unkempt. There was a smear of red on his collar and a faint mark on his neck, as if from a recent bruise. His face was flushed and he was breathing quite heavily, making Ruth think that he was ill.   
_Poor boy_ Ruth thought sadly _he doesn’t have anyone to look after him._  
“Hiya Mrs. Pepperman” the boy gave her a wide grin, his voice bordering on overly cheery.  
Ruth felt guilty for not remembering his name when he was greeting her so beamingly, but then she remembered why she was here.  
“Hello dear, I just wanted to say that I’m afraid you’re making a bit of a racket.”  
“Am I?” the boy looked shocked, his expression so perfectly innocent that Ruth would have been suspicious had she known him better.  
“Yes, you are dear, it’s disturbing my cats.”  
“I’m really sorry Mrs. Pepperman, what sound was it that was bothering you?” the boy asked with almost exaggerated politeness.  
“Oh, I’m not sure. It sounded like someone had banged their toe or something; there was a lot of groaning and gasping and that kind of thing” Ruth waved her hand vaguely.  
“I see, well there was certainly banging going on a second ago- eek!” he cut himself off with a yelp, as if receiving an electric shock.  
“And” Ruth leant in conspiratorially, ignoring the outburst, “there were even some expletives being tossed about.”  
“That’s terrible!” the boy looked suitably horrified “I’m so sorry Mrs. Pepperman. It must have been my girlfriend, she hit her head a second ago and kind of lost control, that’s probably what you heard.”  
“Oh, the poor darling, is she ok? A cupboard door or something was it?”  
“Headboard actually. She’s fine thanks, might be a bit sore in the morning though- oof!” he let out a grunt, grinning at Ruth when she gave him a curious look.  
“I know a great broth that does wonders for a headache, would like me to whip some up?”  
“That’s really kind of you, but I’ve got a pretty good headache cure myself, thanks” he nodded enthusiastically to prove his point. Suddenly his face tensed, pupils dilating and Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed a grunt.   
_Maybe he has a stomach ache_ Ruth thought, knowing the boy didn’t have the best diet.   
He shook himself, seemingly doing his best to focus his attention on Ruth, jaw clenching as he composed his expression.   
“Anyway, we’re really sorry to have woken you, it won’t happen again!” He shot her a winning smile, but his voice sounded oddly strained.  
“It’s fine dear, I don’t want you to worry yourself. What are you doing up at this time of night anyway?”  
“I’m not doing anyone- anything!” he corrected himself quickly, twitching “I just got off a late shift, and my girlfriend said she was staying over so I came back in a rush.”  
“You unfortunate thing, your job sounds so hard” Ruth sighed sympathetically.  
“Yep, very hard. Very, very hard.” He twitched again, a slightly desperate expression battling its way onto his face. Ruth wondered if something was digging into his back, he didn’t seem very comfortable.  
“Are you ok dear?”  
“Yep! Fine, totally fine” the boy’s voice sounded unusually high, but Ruth decided that that was just one of those things that happened to young people.  
“You don’t seem very well, are you eating enough?”  
“I’ve got plenty to eat thanks, in fact I ate out ton-ight!” his voice increased in pitch on the last word as his body jerked inadvertently again. _Is he having a seizure?_ Ruth wondered.  
“If you’re sure dear. Whenever my cats miss a meal they start acting all sorts of strange.”  
The boy nodded compassionately “I understand Mrs. Pepperman, I’ve had to look after my girlfriend’s pussy before, and-grah!” his sentence descended into a fit of coughing, his arm reaching back into the darkness of his apartment and grabbing at something.  
“How lovely, I didn’t know your girlfriend had a cat.”  
“Yep, I love her, but sometimes she scratches me up a lot.”  
“The cat?”  
“Uh, y-yeah, of course” the boy responded, his voice shaky as he squirmed in place.  
“Be careful of cats that scratch dear, it’s a sign of a bad temperament” Ruth replied seriously, not understanding the peculiarly pained expression on her neighbour’s face.  
“Oh, I quite like it actually, show’s how much she cares.”  
“Each to their own dear” Ruth shot him a skeptical look.  
“So hot…” the boy muttered under his breath.  
“Pardon me, dear?”  
“I-it’s really hot. Here. At the moment. In New York” the boy stuttered, blinking rapidly.  
“It’s January dear” Ruth responded, concerned. _Maybe he actually does have a fever._  
“I meant, like, for January, you know? Global warming and all that, it’s not a myth!” he prattled, giving her another megawatt smile.  
“Certainly, dear.”   
The boy’s eyes suddenly bulged.  
“You know what, you’re right, I think I am sick” he announced, “I’m going to head to bed now and sleep it off, really sorry to have woken you!”  
With that he unceremoniously slammed the door, leaving Ruth to stare perplexedly at the wood. 

Ruth hobbled back to her own apartment, deciding that despite his niceness her neighbour was a very strange young man.   
A few minutes later, as Ruth lay in bed, she realized with a sigh that the noises from next door had not stopped. She considered going back over there again, but decided that the boy was clearly sick and probably needed his rest. _He and his girlfriend both do_ Ruth decided _it sounds like they’re in a lot of pain_. In the end she simply put in her earplugs and slipped into a deep sleep.

If Ruth had stayed awake a little later she might have heard the following conversation drifting through her thin apartment wall:  
“Oh my god Jake, I think you’ve actually screwed my brains out…”  
“You’re only the second best detective in the Nine Nine, it wasn’t that difficult.”  
“Oh yeah, and you’re saying that your brain is still intact at this point?”  
“Course, I’m a total mongoose king wrestler watermelon…”  
“What?”  
“Ok, so you screwed my brain out a little bit.”  
“You bet I did. God, your neighbour’s so nice but I wanted to strangle her when she interrupted us.”  
“Wow, violent Ames. I agree though, and she wouldn’t leave! Why do I have to have a thoughtful, talkative neighbor, why can’t I be like everyone else in New York?”  
“I bet Rosa would love her.”  
“Right?”  
“You really didn’t help by the way; sticking all those innuendos in there.”  
“Well my mind was 99% thinking about sticking something into something else, so it was difficult to keep my focus on the conversation, especially when you were right behind me wearing only my hoodie…”  
“It’s your fault you couldn’t keep quiet enough to stop her coming over! And then I didn’t want to take my hands off you, so standing behind you seemed like the best solution.”  
“Me? It was so you being loud!”  
“In my defense, you just did that thing with your tongue…”  
“I know; I’m ridiculously good.”  
“Oh, shut up, you were just as loud!”  
“Fine, I won’t argue.”  
“Because I’m right.”  
“Sure, Ames.”  
 _Short pause._  
“I really hope you didn’t freak her out by answering the door so weirdly.”  
“I had to stand like that! I didn’t want a 60 year-old woman seeing that I had a raging boner. That sight’s reserved for my girlfriend, since she causes it.”  
“Your girlfriend’s very sorry.”  
“No she’s not.”  
“Nope.”  
“You were evil by the way, you kept poking me whenever I said anything.”  
“You said I’d be sore in the morning!”  
“It was true.”  
“You deserved to get poked.”  
“Did I deserve it when you started stroking me through my jeans as soon as I started talking about headaches?”  
“You were drawing out the conversation way too long, I really wanted to get back to…you know. Besides, I needed to make sure you were still ready to go.”  
“Trust me, with you around that is not a problem. Do you realize how difficult it was to carry on a conversation when my gorgeous girlfriend was feeling me up? I think I started talking about global warming at one point.”  
“Yeah, you did, and it was hilarious.”  
“I’m so glad my you enjoyed my suffering.”  
“Aw, come on Jake, don’t pout…I’ll make it up to you.”  
 _Voices become softer._  
“And how’re you going to do that?”  
“Let’s just say it’s a good thing we don’t have work tomorrow.”  
“God, I love you.”  
“Love you too, Babe. Now kiss me.”

Luckily for all parties, Ruth missed this exchange, and retained her blissful ignorance as she slumbered. 

The next time Ruth saw her neighbour he looked much more normal, although he had a couple extra almost-bruises on his neck his collar couldn’t quite cover. _I don’t know how he’s going to survive_ Ruth reflected _he and his girlfriend are just so accident-prone_. He looked happier than she’d ever seen him though, so she was glad for him in that respect.  
 _Now if only he could stop hurting himself at night, he’d be a wonderful neighbour_. He never did stop though, so Ruth was left to find better earplugs, and to pine for a less clumsy neighbour.


	6. Nancy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some incredibly fluffy fluff

Nancy Hannigan had seen it all. After working in ‘the White Sand Resort” for five years, there wasn’t much left that could surprise you. She’d seen cheating husbands being caught making out with their mistresses in the pool by their wives, parents of ten children sunbathing while their offspring tore the beach apart, a circus performer on holiday doing a handstand on a massage table.  
Therefore, she wasn’t expecting anything interesting to come of a fairly ordinary couple visiting for the weekend.

Nancy first noticed them as they entered the hotel. She was carefully wiping the dust off one of the statuettes in the hotel’s lobby, already feeling fatigued at 11 in the morning. The monotony was interrupted by the sound of chattering voices, breaking the serene calm the resort so carefully cultivated. Nancy glanced up from her work to find a man striding through the lobby in the most violently colourful shirt she’d ever seen. It looked like a rainbow had been in a paintball fight and lost, greens and blues and reds clashed brilliantly to make it almost painful to look directly at the article of clothing.  
“Aaaaaamy” the wearer of the shirt called to the woman standing next to him in a singsong voice “we’re here!”  
The woman looked dull in comparison to her dazzling partner, skulking along next to him and scowling at his exuberance.  
“I know, stop trying to annoy me even more.”  
“What? I’ve annoyed you?” the man asked with and exaggeratedly shocked expression. He was greeted with a stony silence from his partner, making the man glance over.  
“It’s not that bad.”  
“That shirt is an abomination, Jake! I can’t believe you made me sit through an entire flight with you looking like that.”  
“I had to wear it, I lost a bet with Rosa and-”  
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”  
The man increased his pace, overtaking the woman and standing in front of her, forcing her to stop and look at him.  
“Come on, Ames, don’t be mad. I’ll change when we get to the room. Besides, you enjoyed me looking stupid, remember when that lady at the airport started throwing holy water at me and calling me a demon?”  
The woman let out a sigh, the corner of her lips twitching upwards.  
“I saw a guy pass us on a bike and immediately crash into a lamppost because he couldn’t look away from my shirt.”  
The woman pursed her lips, trying to maintain some semblance of irritation.  
“I even made a little kid cry just by looking at him, last time that happened I had just arrested a mall Santa for disorderly conduct.”  
The woman shook her head, giving the man a proper smile “I’m sorry Jake, I guess I’m not in holiday-mode yet. The Finkleman case took a lot out of me, so I suppose I’m still a bit stressed.”  
The man grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they continued towards the reception.  
“Not to worry, Ames, I am here to make sure that you will be so relaxed by the end of this holiday that you’ll need a back brace thing just to sit up straight again.”  
The woman rolled her eyes, but they sparkled in such a way that Nancy knew she was the opposite of annoyed.  
“This will be your relaxing vacation. Your relaxication. Your relaxation” the man frowned “wait, that’s a word already, isn’t it? Or is it? Is that where it came from?”  
“Wow” the woman stared at him disbelievingly.  
“I know, I’m amazing” the man shot her a confident grin.  
At that point they reached the front desk and started checking in, leaving Nancy frozen mid-dusting. She shook herself, turning her attention back to her work.  
She determinedly didn’t notice how the man chuckled when the woman muttered something to him, or how his hand always returned to her waist, or how she naturally seemed to lean into him slightly as she spoke to the receptionist. No, Nancy was far too focused to notice any of that, and the smile that slipped onto her lips as she worked was due to something completely unrelated to the happy couple a few meters away.

Nancy next encountered the pair later on that same day. She was working on the beach, organizing deckchairs and clearing tables in the beaming afternoon sun. Nancy had started working at the hotel as her uncle was the manager, and usually just did whatever was needed of her. She was a combination cleaner, receptionist, waitress and barmaid, anything to give her savings a boost.  
Now Nancy was crouching behind one of the deckchairs, trying to fix the lever that changed the incline of the chair, when she spotted them. The couple were walking down the beach from the hotel, holding hands and chatting. The man had forgone his brightly coloured shirt in favour of a pair of blue swimming shorts, the woman was similarly attired in a red swimsuit. The frown Nancy had first seen her with had been replaced by a broad grin. The man started swinging their joint hands, making the woman laugh. Nancy could just about make out their conversation.  
“We are by far the cutest couple on this beach.”  
“Jake, we’re the only couple on this beach. Besides, it’s not a competition.”  
“Definitely not a close one. Look, we’re holding hands and everything!” the man swung their joint hands still higher to illustrate his point.  
“We do that all the time,” the woman pointed out, doing her best to look exasperated at her partner’s antics.  
“Yeah, but now we’re on a beach, on vacation, that more than doubles our couple-iness to start off with. And then you factor in the handholding, and the kissing, and the fact that we’re definitely going to boink tonight, and we’ve got cuteness times a brillion.”  
“Absolutely not a number.”  
“Sure, it’s short for a ‘brilliant million’, like a regular million but amazing.”  
“That makes so little sense I don’t know where to start.”  
“‘Don’t know where to start’, title of your sex tape!”  
“Wow, and you really expect to have sex tonight if you keep annoying me like that?”  
“Definitely, you know you can’t resist me, Ames” the man stepped in front of the woman, standing close and taking both her hands, smirking down at her as the waves lapped nearby. The woman glared at him, though there was no anger behind the look.  
An idea suddenly seemed to occur to her and she slowly leant into the man and stood on her tiptoes, her lips right next to his ear. She whispered something to him, and Nancy watched with amusement as his face went slack. The woman grinned up at the man before walking away.  
“Does it seem like I don’t know where to start when it comes to sex, Jake?” she called over her shoulder, the man still seemingly frozen and staring after her. He had this wondering expression on his face, as if he couldn’t actually believe his girlfriend was real. He suddenly seemed to snap out of his daze and ran after the woman, wrapping his arms around her waist, lifting her up and spinning her around.  
“Nope, nope, nope, you’re the best at sex, Ames, I take it back! You’re great, you’re amazing, you’re stupendous, you’re phenomenal!” the woman was laughing as her partner set her down, his arms still wrapped around her as he nuzzled into her neck.  
“Phenomenal?” she glanced over her shoulder at him.  
“It’s how Charles described a fillet mignon once, he seemed almost as attracted to the thing as I am to you, so I figured it would work. Impressed?”  
She turned in his arms to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck as a smile spread across her face.  
“More impressed that you can say fillet mignon.”  
“I remembered it because sounds like ‘flayed minion’, you know those annoying little things from Despicable Me?”  
“And the world makes sense again.”  
They stood there, grinning at each other for an instant. Nancy couldn’t help but admire how idyllic the scene was, the couple in each other’s arms on the white sand with an azure ocean spreading like a carpet to the horizon.  
“Do you have sunblock on, Jake?” the woman interrupted the moment with a frown.  
“Maybe” the man mumbled before pulling her to him, pressing his lips against hers in a lingering kiss. The woman’s hands moved to his hair, standing on her tiptoes as the man gathered her into his arms.  
They broke off, resting their foreheads together as they gazed into each other’s eyes.  
“You want to go back to our room?” the woman murmured, stroking her fingers down the man’s neck. The man seemed frozen for a second, clearly tempted, before standing up straight. His hands moved from the woman’s back to her waist, a smile playing across his lips.  
“Nope, sorry Ames, but we’ve got a schedule, remember? We’ve got forty seven minutes left on the beach, then we’re trying that really cool bar that’s actually in the pool, then you said I could rent one of those jet skis we saw earlier, and then we’re checking out the hotel’s spa-”  
“God, you’re so hot” the woman almost growled, pulling him down for a short but intense kiss.  
“Oh Baby, I know” the man grinned smugly down at his girlfriend as she released him. They began walking down the beach, hand in hand as before.  
“Before we do anything though, you’re putting on sunblock” Nancy just heard the woman say before they were out of earshot.  
Nancy stood and brushed the sand from her clothes. She wondered whether the couple would have minded if they had known she had been there. She had stayed hidden throughout the exchange, not wanting to interrupt their moment. Nancy suspected though that they wouldn’t have cared in any case, they seemed entirely wrapped up in their own world.

The last time Nancy saw the couple that day they were zipping across the waves on a jet ski, opalescent spray thrown up in their wake. The man was sitting at the front, grinning from ear to ear and coaxing the jet ski to go faster and faster, the woman clinging to his back, arms tight around his waist. Her expression was terrified, but the fear overlaid an exhilaration that made her laugh out loud when her partner performed a particularly crazy turn. At one point the man misjudged a wave and the two were thrown off, splashing down into the cobalt water. The man emerged laughing, glancing around in search of his partner. She suddenly popped up behind him, splashing him and leaping on his back. As Nancy turned away they were clambering back onto the jet ski, the man smiling as his partner did her best to chastise him for his recklessness, however, the woman was failing so miserably at containing her own giggles that her reproofs didn’t seem to have any effect.  
Nancy felt her heart warmed by the simple affection between the two, the way they seemed to enjoy just spending time together above all else. She hoped she would see them again before they left, someone who worked a 50-hour week could always do with some brightness in her life.

Nancy’s hopes weren’t answered until the next afternoon, when she was sent by her uncle to put up flyers for next week’s karaoke night all around the resort. She was almost done, and just needed to put some up in the activities hall before she could be free. As she stepped into the hall she realized that the weekly dance class was in full swing, couples shuffling along to the music to varying degrees of success while peppy instructors encouraged them.  
Nancy skirted the dozen pairs cautiously, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. She reached one of the pin boards dotted around the sizeable hall and was about to tack up the first flyer when she heard familiar voices.  
“Come on Ames, do a lift!”  
“Not happening, Jake.”  
Nancy cast her gaze around the hall, her eyes finally settling on two figures standing close together not far away. Their left hands were linked, the man’s right hand resting on his partner’s waist, and her hand was placed on his shoulder.  
“I promise I won’t drop you! And it’ll be so dope, I’ll be all James Bond and stuff.”  
“Sorry Jake, order a martini if you want to be James Bond, you are not lifting me.”  
“Firstly, I will have a martini because they’re like alcoholic slushies and that’s awesome."  
"That's a margarita. Martini's are generally made with vermouth and gin."  
"Nevermind, that sounds gross. Anyway, secondly, don’t you trust me?”  
“I trust you Jake, but I don’t trust my dress not to flare up awkwardly and make me flash the room. That, and you might drop me.”  
“You don’t trust me! Also, what underwear are you wearing?”  
“We are not discussing that now.”  
“S’cool, I’ll check later. But seriously, don’t you trust me?”  
“Jake, you know I trust you with everything. You’re my partner and my boyfriend and I trust you with my life and my secrets. But, I also know you, and that means that I am 84% sure that you’ll drop me.”  
“That is a very specific number. And now I don’t know if I’m insulted or not” the man pouted “damn you and your mind games Amy, I can’t be mad if you’re being all nice and stuff” his face softened “for the record, I trust you with everything too.”  
The voices faded somewhat and Nancy glanced around to find the couple moving away across the dance floor. She quickly pinned up the flyer she had been holding dumbly for the past minute and moved to the next board, which by complete coincidence was right next to the couple.  
“I think you’re getting better at this,” the man was saying.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, I’ll only need minor surgery if I want to be able to feel my foot again.”  
“Sorry! I’m doing my best.”  
“I know, and it’s really cute.”  
Nancy watched the couple out of the corner of her eye, noticing how the man held the woman slightly tighter at these words, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before continuing to dance. The woman was smiling a smile Nancy had never seen before. It wasn’t the polite smile of someone receiving a compliment, or the pleased smile of someone flattered, but the genuinely delighted smile of someone so happy with their life that they couldn’t help but let it show on their face.  
“What are you standing around for, Nancy? Get on with it” one of the dance instructors called, peeved at her dawdling. Nancy murmured an apology and hurried on, sticking up her flyers as quickly as she could. She paused at the door for and instant and let her gaze linger on the couple. The music had changed, the tempo increasing, and the couple didn’t seem to be talking anymore. The man was laughing, his eyes twinkling as he watched his partner, who too seemed to be helplessly giggling, as they did their best to keep up with the faster song.  
Nancy returned to the lobby grinning, earning her an odd look from her uncle, but she didn’t care.

Nancy had to work the restaurant that night, refilling glasses of water, relighting candles and clearing tables. It was her least favourite part of her job, tedious and a bit too high profile for her liking. She didn’t enjoy direct interactions with the guests, she preferred to stay in the background and clean rooms. Tonight though, three of the wait staff had called in sick, so it was all hands on deck.  
It had reached about 8 o’clock and Nancy felt herself flagging, already mentally curled up in her nice soft bed, away from the critical eye of her uncle and the guests. That was when the couple entered. The man was in a blue buttoned down shirt and dark jeans, the woman at his side in a simple pink dress. The pair were shown to a table near the corner of the restaurant, the man pulling out the woman’s chair with a wink.  
As casually as she could manage Nancy moved closer to them, refilling glasses as she went.  
“Come on Jake, we leave tomorrow, you have to tell me how you managed to afford this place.”  
“Where’s the fun in that? You’re a detective, solve it.”  
“Don’t be a pain, just tell me!”  
“Spoil sport. You don’t want any final guesses?”  
“Fine. Well, I know you didn’t buy this yourself; partially because I’m aware of your financial situation, but I also looked this place up and you need to book at least two months in advance, and there’s no way you could have kept it a secret for that long. No, you only told me a week beforehand…by the way, that completely through off my packing routine.”  
“You’ve mentioned.”  
“Right. Well, someone must have given you the tickets. In that case, he only realistic guess would be Charles.”  
“And the winner of the ‘biggest know it all’ trophy goes to Amy Santiago!”  
“Ok, so why did Charles give you this?”  
“He apparently booked it for him and Genevieve as a surprise romantic getaway, but at the last minute she went out of town. He offered it to me and I said yes because I know how stressful it’s been at work recently and, you know, I’ve really missed you lately.”  
“I’ve missed you too.”  
Nancy peeked over at the couple as she stacked some empty glasses on her tray. They were holding hands across the table and grinning, staring into each other’s eyes, something so cliché Nancy used to think that it only happened in movies. Nancy was so distracted that she dropped a fork and, as she knelt to pick it up, she couldn’t help but notice how the woman’s foot was caressing her partner’s leg under the table, the movement for the most part shielded by the tablecloth.  
“What are the chances that Charles never intended to go away with Genevieve and just planned this whole thing as a gift for us?” the woman broke the comfortable silence.  
“Oh, almost definitely. I sent him a picture of us on the beach and he sent back a twenty-minute video of him talking about the ‘purity of love’. It got really personal really quickly. By the way, I had to cancel the 6 appointments he made with masseuses nearby for ‘couple’s hair washing’.”  
“Do masseuses even offer that?”  
“Technically they advertised ‘intimate couple massages plus extra’.”  
“Was it-”  
“Oh yeah, they were totally hookers.”  
“God” the woman shook her head and laughed “Charles is going to end up surrounded by prostitutes one of these days, and he’s just going to be standing there with a bottle of shampoo, eating some sort of fried intestine, looking really confused.”  
At this point Nancy noticed her uncle signaling her from across the restaurant, gesticulating towards the couple, clearly encouraging her to refill their water. Nancy gulped and moved towards their table, hands trembling slightly.  
She smiled to each of them as she carefully filled their glasses, avoiding their eyes as much as possible.  
“Hey, you’re Nancy, right?” the man spoke up, making Nancy’s head snap up at the sound of her name. She nodded and smiled weakly, wondering why he was bothering to make conversation with her.  
“Yeah, we’ve seen you around” the woman joined in, giving Nancy a friendly look “the resort’s really lovely.”  
“Thank you, ma’am.”  
“And you seem to do a lot around here” the woman continued, and the man nodded.  
“Cleaning.”  
“Serving drinks.”  
“Folding towels.”  
“Arranging chairs.”  
“Putting up flyers.”  
Nancy’s gaze switched between them as if she were watching a tennis match, noting how they were smirking at each other. She wondered if they were testing one another, seeing who had noticed the most.  
“Sorry” the woman smiled at Nancy again “we’re detectives” she offered by way of explanation. Nancy nodded, relaxing slightly despite the strangeness of the exchange.  
“Anyway, we’ve had a really great time here” the man grinned, “I hope we get to come back.”  
“We will, if Charles has anything to say about it” Nancy just heard the woman mutter, and the man snorted. Nancy smiled at each of them again and wished them a good evening before scurrying away, having sensed her uncle glaring at her from across the room.

As she continued to dart around the restaurant, Nancy smiled. Her interaction with the pair had actually made her panic a lot less than most conversations with guests. There had just been something in their manner, a brightness that just made them seem happier and more approachable than couples she had previously encountered. They had this easy affection for each other that made it genuinely pleasant to be around them, mixed with a flirtatious banter that was not only funny, but also managed to convey how deeply they cared for one another.  
In fact, Nancy felt so comfortable with the pair that as they exited the restaurant and waved at her, she was able to return the gesture quite happily.

That was not the last time Nancy saw the couple however. It was late, and Nancy was hurrying through the winding corridors of the resort to the side exit, when she heard them. She paused, cocking her head to one side to locate the hushed voices.  
“Jake, you do realize that we have to get up early to catch our flight, right?”  
“We can sleep on the plane, right now you’re wearing too many layers.”  
Nancy peaked around a corner and saw them, the man’s arms wrapped around the woman from behind as he kissed her shoulder, clearly distracting her as she tried to work their room’s keycard.  
“You want to know what layer I’m not wearing?” the woman whispered as she shot the man a seductive look over her shoulder “underwear.”  
The man audibly growled and crowded the woman against the door, kissing down her neck and sliding his hands over the silky fabric of her dress.  
“Jake, someone might see us,” the woman warned, but her voice was low and sultry, and her free hand stroked her partner’s neck behind her.  
“They’ll be seeing a hell of a lot more if you don’t get that door open right now.”  
The woman turned to face her partner, her nose inches away from his as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
“Before that” the woman began as the man pressed her into the door, gazing deep into her eyes “I just wanted to say that I’ve had an amazing weekend with you. You’re a wonderful boyfriend, and I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here. I love you.”  
“Aw, Ames” the man grinned, not one of the smug looks Nancy had seen him use before, but a soft and elated smile “I love you and I’ve had a great time too, there’s no one I would have rather taken on this trip. Not even Jay Z or John McClane.”  
“Your back ups for this romantic trip are a rapper and a fictional character?”  
“Hey, Jay Z and I would have had a great time! But,” he conceded “having you here is a million times better.”  
The man’s head dipped down and the pair shared a tender kissed, that quickly heated up as the woman’s hands tugged at the man’s short hair and his hands tightened on her waist. Nancy was starting to become distinctly uncomfortable watching them when they broke off, both panting slightly.  
“Amy, I love you, but can you pleeeeeeease get that door open now before you actually drive me insane?”  
The woman chuckled and complied, barely opening their room door before the man was pushing her inside, hands sliding up her back as he closed the distance between them.  
The door clicked shut on the couple, leaving Nancy to continue on her quiet walk home. She realized as she left the resort, that the couple would stay in her mind for as long as the circus performer on the massage table would. They may not have done anything wild or out of the ordinary, but their contentedness with life was something so rare that Nancy knew they were special.  
_So maybe there still are some surprises out there_ Nancy thought, starting on the winding road homeward.


	7. Rica

Rica Rossi needed a break. The flashing lights were making her eyes sore, the thudding music was making her head pound, and the shouting customers were making her want to crawl into a hole. On top of that, this was her fifth late night shift in a row, and she simply wasn’t built for it.  
 _Maybe I should work in one of those places that play classical music all the time and no one is under forty-five. Would they let me wear skinny jeans to work?_ She reflected, absent-mindedly dropping a shot glass into a jägerbomb that was eagerly snatched up by a twenty-something with too much eyeliner.  
Suddenly there seemed to be a lot of movement around the door, the tremors that would usually portend a pack of tipsy college students. Rica groaned inwardly at the prospect.  
As she peered at the entrance though, Rica realized that it was actually a group in their early-thirties, all grinning and laughing. They were a distinctive group consisting of a woman who strode into the club like she owned it, a hulking bald guy, a dark-haired woman smirking like a serial killer, a little guy jumping around with the unbridled joy of a puppy, a woman with straight dark hair, large brown eyes and a concerned expression, and a man grinning like a maniac and laughing at something the little guy was saying.

The first woman marched up to the bar and ordered three shots of tequila. She took them all in quick succession before turning back to her companions.  
“Y’all gotta keep up or get out, this place is gonna get turnt!” she shouted over the music emanating throughout the club.  
The big guy laughed but shook his head and asked for a bottle of water. The little guy ordered an appletini, which he sipped with his pinky sticking out. The scary lady ordered a triple of whisky, which she gulped expressionlessly. Tequila Girl turned challengingly to Smiley Guy and handed him another shot of tequila, holding her own aloft. The guy laughed and handed Concerned Girl at his side his lime, clinking glasses with Tequila Girl before downing his drink. He grimaced as the tequila danced down his throat and dipped his head, biting into the lime proffered by Concerned Girl. Her expression had changed to one of amusement as she tried not to giggle as the man wiggled his eyebrows at her, lime juice dripping down his chin.  
Tequila Girl had downed her own shot and rolled her eyes at her friends’ shenanigans.  
“Now!” she announced, raising her arms dramatically to draw the group’s attention “we dance!”   
She led the way to the dance floor, moving confidently to the music. The rest followed with varying degrees of success. The group seemed to have fun though, and mentally Rica wished them well. They were all so comfortable with each other, like a family. Rica liked that.

As Rica’s shift wore on she kept an eye on the group, their antics the one shred of entertainment in what would otherwise have been the emotional equivalent of a lobotomy. Smiley Guy produced increasingly ridiculous dance moves, making his friends laugh and even join in occasionally. Rica did not think she would ever forget the image of Water Man doing the Macarena. When Appletini Guy started shaking his backside provocatively and enthusiastically though, his friends universally cringed and turned away, shouting at him to stop. Even Whisky girl started to move a little to the music, and cracked a grin when Smiley Guy tried to moonwalk and almost punched a guy behind him in the gut. There was one tense moment, when she almost broke the arm of a guy who danced a bit too close to her, but the others barely even took note of it.   
As the evening continued, one by one members of the little crew started to peel off. Water Man was the first to go, even as Tequila Girl almost tackled him in her attempts to make him stay. Whisky Woman was next, nodding at her companions before unceremoniously ditching them. Even Tequila Girl disappeared, having latched onto a man with the jawline of a cowboy and the body of a Greek god.

Rica was manning the quiet end of the bar, nearer the bathrooms than the dance floor, when Smiley Guy and Concerned Girl approached her. Rica didn’t know what to make of the girl; she had been so stiff at the start, almost scared, but now she was guffawing and hanging off the guy’s arm like the a confident club-goer- the wonder of booze. Only, the woman had barely drunk anything, and yet she buzzed with the unabashed happiness of the most flagrant drunkard.   
“Come on, Ames” the guy was saying, “let me buy you a drink! It’s been ages since drunk Amy got to come out and play.”  
The woman rolled her eyes and turned to Rica “two kamikaze shots please!”  
Wordlessly Rica handed them two shot glasses, avoiding eye contact as the guy paid her.  
“You’re having fun though, right Ames?” the guy shouted to his partner over the noise of the club, playing with her hand as the alcohol settled in her stomach.  
“Yeah, I suppose…” the girl replied noncommittally, doing her best to hide her grin.  
“I knew it! Told you you’d have fun if you came out” the guy pulled her closer, hands wrapping around her waist as he grinned down at her “and I bet Gina appreciated you being around for her birthday.”  
“Gina couldn’t care less” the woman rolled her eyes.  
“Oh, she could. Besides, I’d be bummed if you weren’t here.”  
“Aw, you’re so nice when you’re drunk!” the woman shoved his shoulder playfully.  
“Hey, I’m always nice! And I’m not drunk! When was the last time you came to a club anyway? Were bell-bottom jeans all the rage?”  
“Shut up, I used to go clubbing with Kylie all the time!” the guy raised an eyebrow “ok, so we went a couple times. It was a while back. Maybe a couple years.”  
The guy snorted and shook his head affectionately.   
“I’ll have you know that college-Amy had some moves in the club!” the girl glared up at the guy defensively. A light sprang into the guy’s eyes at that.  
“Moves huh? Ok, I’ve got to see this” he leant against the bar and gave the girl an expectant look.   
“What? No, we’re not doing this.” The woman blushed furiously under the guy’s smirk.  
“I’ll help you get into college-Amy mode,” the guy offered, adopting an exaggerated Cali-girl voice “oh my god, did you, like, see that? Brad is so hot, I’m totally going to do body shots off him later.”  
“Jake” she slapped his arm, her eyes dancing with amusement.  
“You’re right, this is _you_ we’re talking about” he coughed, adopting the voice again “oh my god, did you see that essay about early post-revisionist sculptures? It made me _soooooo_ hot!”  
“You’re a doofus” the girl was trying and failing to hide a smile. The guy grinned in triumph.  
“Ok, fine. I’ll try some college-Amy moves, but it’s your own fault if you can’t resist me afterwards!”   
The woman turned away and shook herself before turning back to the man.  
“Hey, how’s it going?”  
“Great, wanna have sex?”  
“Jake!”  
“What can I say? You’re very good.” The woman raised an eyebrow at him and he relented “sorry, sorry, start again.”  
The woman scowled at him before adopting an alluring half smile “what’s your name?”  
“Mark Steele, private eye with a fake eye and a dark past. My one goal: find the woman who stole my eye, and my virginity!”  
“Hey, Mark” the woman seemed unperturbed by her partner’s response, taking it in stride as she let one finger trail up his forearm “you like dancing?”  
“You bet, babe, it’s been a while since I’ve got to do it though.”  
“Aw, how come?” the woman asked with a look of wide-eyed sympathy.  
“I just don’t know if it could beat the last time, I was on this cruise with my girlfriend, and it was pretty special. You think you can do better?” the man casually interlaced their fingers, rubbing his thumb on the back of the woman’s hand. The woman had to fight to stop a full-blown grin cracking her sultry demeanor.  
“Oh, I’ll do my best, darling. Girlfriend, huh? She around?”  
“Not right now, lucky for you.”  
“Why’s that?”  
“Oh, she’s very territorial, she’d scratch your eyes right out just for looking at me.”  
“That right? Sounds like a bit of a control freak” the woman had extricated her hand from the man’s grasp and was playing with a button on his shirt, glancing up to meet his gaze.  
“Oh, she’s a freak alright, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” That broke her; the woman let lose a megawatt smile and flicked the man in the chest.  
“Loser” she chastised him, even as she practically glowed with happiness.  
“It’s Mark actually” the man smirked, giving the woman a look Rica had never seen before. It was the look of a man in awe, the look of a man so happy he couldn’t believe his own luck, the look of a man addicted.  
They stood like that for a couple seconds, just standing there and grinning like idiots, until a flash from behind them broke their reverie.  
“Charles!” the man scowled and turned to Appletini Guy, who was almost jumping up and down in excitement, his phone in one hand.  
“Sorry, you guys are just so…” Appletini Guy fanned his hand at his eyes, as if trying to hold back tears.  
“Go away, Charles! We’ll see you on Monday.”  
“Yeah you will, you dog” Appletini Guy punched his friend in the arm, almost skipping out of the club.  
The man turned his attention back to the girl, who was laughing quietly.   
“Sorry about that, my friend’s a pain in the butt.”  
“Oh, I’m sure he means well. Is he a private eye too?”  
“Nah, he’s a cop, what a square.”  
The woman leant forward and whispered something in the man’s ear, her hand settling on his chest. The man’s eyes widened and he turned to look at the woman.  
“Don’t you worry, babe, I have cuffs of my own.”  
The woman let off a Tinkerbell laugh, leaning in to give the guy a quick kiss. As she pulled away the man instinctively chased her lips, pulling her back to him and kissing her more insistently. When he finally let her go, they just stood there, forehead to forehead, staring into each other’s eyes.   
Slowly the man righted himself, giving the woman a rueful smile.  
“You want to dance?” he offered, one hand still on her waist. She grinned and nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears before taking his hand and leading the way to the dance flood. The man noticed this gesture and almost stumbled, a slow grin spreading over his face.

The final time Rica saw the couple, they were leaving the club, the man’s arm around the woman’s shoulders, his lips brushing the top of her head. They’d spent their time on the dance floor slowly getting closer and closer to each other. When ‘YMCA’ had come on and the woman enthusiastically danced along, the man had looked at her like she was the only thing on the planet. He wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close to him. She turned in his arms and they spent the rest of the night like that, swaying together, no matter the music. Now they were leaning into each other as they exited the club. The woman said something and the man gave her a look Rica definitely recognized. It said ‘we are definitely going to be naked in the next hour so don’t even try to stop me’.

“Couples are disgusting” Rica said to the other bartender, turning her back on the pair as she filled another cup with foamy beer, a smile playing across her lips.


	8. Albert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're ready for some diabetes-inducing fluff. Credit to Rita for the suggestion.

Albert Houston liked winter. He had always been a bit of a dreamer, at least that’s what his report cards had said when he was a boy, and New York in winter was like a fairy tale come to life to him.

 

He liked the cobwebs of frost snaking over the ground, forming millions of tiny highways that contoured the ground. He liked how the ponds and rivers froze over, covering the uninviting water with the smooth, pearly surface of icing on a lemon cake. He liked how the snow highlighted the bare black branches of the trees as they rose welcomingly towards the sky.

 

He especially liked that he could sit, warm and cosy, at his till and watch the pedestrians tumble past in their jackets and scarves. He especially especially liked it at night, when the grocery store was nearly empty, and the street outside was bathed in synthetic orange light, giving the snow a fiery tint. He would sit on his little stool, people watch, and let his mind wander free.

 

It was on just such an evening that Albert’s serenity was interrupted by a young man in a leather jacket. It all started innocuously enough; the boy seemed quite happy to amble around the store, tossing items haphazardly into his trolley, humming a song by that singer- something Swift. Occasionally he would pause, his mouth puckered and brow furrowed in concentration, as he weighed his options. There was something earnest in his expression, like a child trying to draw a picture for his teacher.

 

Leaving the boy to himself, Albert went back to his daydreams. He reflected on how the lines on the backs of his hands were on the verge of becoming wrinkles, and how the doorway across the street looked like an angry face if he relaxed his eyes.

 

Suddenly, music filled the almost deserted store.

 

_“I’m horny! Horny, horny, horny.”_

 

Bopping his head to the song, the boy pulled out his phone without looking at the screen and answered it.

 

“S’up, babe? You done at the precinct yet?...yeah, I’m here…wha…ye…Ames! I said that I got it, and I got it, m’kay? Anyway, have you _finally_ finished your paperwork?...excuses, excuses…hey, don’t change the subject, just because I finished a whole _two hours_ before you...what, can’t I be trusted to go food shopping by myself?”

 

An exasperated smile spread across the boy’s face.

 

“You know what Ames, anyone would think that you didn’t trust me…yeah, yeah, whatever…nearly done…ok, see you in five…kay, love ya.”

 

The boy hung up and seemed to stand there for a moment, goofy grin sneaking onto his face as he put his phone away. He started making his way around the isles again, squinting at scrawled notes on his hand. As he passed by Albert, Albert realised that the boy was now singing that Swift song under his breath.

 

_“…never be alone, you love me and that’s all…”_

 

Exactly five minutes later, a young woman with straight black hair and an anxious twist to her mouth hurried into the store. Snow dusted her sensible blue jacket, and her hands were shoved so deep into her pockets that they could’ve entered another dimension.

 

The man looked up expectantly, a smirk rising to his lips at the sight of the woman.

 

“Cold outside?”

 

“W-wow, are you a detective or something?” the woman sniped, but there was no venom behind it. She reached the man and he slung an arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head and rubbing his hand up and down her arm comfortingly.

 

The woman’s expression softened as she leaned into the man’s touch, smiling as he kissed her hair again. Slowly, a mischievous gleam entered her eyes. She retrieved a hand from her pocket, still pale and cold from the outside world, and touched the man’s neck.

 

He yelped, grabbing her wrist with one hand and tightening his grip around her with the other, keeping her pocketed hand trapped between them.

 

“That’s mean!” he squeaked “Damn, Ames, how are you always so frickin’ cold?”

 

“It’s not my fault, not all of us can be sentient furnaces” the woman twisted her hand free and pressed her palm into the side of the man’s neck, making him grunt and twist away from her.

 

“Don’t try to confuse me with big words. Here I am, doing my best to get our shopping done, and you’re bullying me!”

 

“Don’t be such a baby, Peralta” the woman rolled her glittering eyes at her companion. Albert found the whole thing very off putting- he wasn’t sure if they were going to start strangling each other or playing tag. They seemed to be in a little bubble, something separate from the feigned warmth of the store’s fluorescent lights.

 

“Speaking of the food,” the woman continued, “how are we doing? How many packets of gummy bears do I need to put back?”

 

The smirk returned, and the man took a step back from the trolley, spreading his arms invitingly. Suspiciously, the woman inspected the trolley’s contents, rifling through packets and cans dubiously. Finally, she looked up, confused.

 

“There isn’t any candy.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“You got the right milk.”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“There are vegetables.”

 

“Yup.” The boy’s smug expression was threatening to break his face.

 

“Are you feeling ok?”

 

“What can I say, Ames? I kick ass at food shopping. You proud of me?”

 

“Uh…yeah” the woman still looked confused. She held up a couple little bottles.

 

“What are these for?”

 

“Flavour.”

 

“Fancy. Oh, wow, you even got me a new toothbrush!”

 

“You’ve had the last one for almost three months.”

 

“It’s got the extra soft bristles!”

 

“Are you going to read out the every box in there, because I have a life to get on with?”

 

“I _am_ proud of you!” the girl grinned, wrapping her arms around the man’s waist and giving him a quick squeeze. The boy’s smug look was momentarily replaced by a softer smile, something proud but relieved, and undeniably happy.

 

Albert frowned. These two seemed vaguely unhinged. Were they hugging over toothbrushes?

 

“Ok” the woman was saying “we just need hot chocolate mix-”

 

“Already got it. The white _and_ milk ones, since you’re a weirdo.”

 

“They taste nice mixed together! In that case I just need tampons-”

 

“Covered” the man replied in a bored voice, inspecting his nails theatrically.

 

“How can you manage to be so sweet but so annoying at the same time?”

 

“It’s a Peralta speciality” the man responded with a wink, before starting to push the trolley towards Albert’s till.

 

“Hold on” the woman held up a finger before darting off, leaving the man with a perplexed expression. She re-appeared with a six-pack of orange soda and two small packets of gummy bears.

 

“I appreciate you being good, but you have to have _something_ sugary in the house.”

 

The boy beamed, kissing the woman on the cheek as they reached Albert’s counter.

 

Avoiding eye contact, Albert scanned each item carefully. He didn’t want to accidentally send them into a toothbrush frenzy again.

 

As the pair paid, the man commented, “you realise that, since I did all the actual shopping, you have to carry it all back, right?”

 

“Yeah, sure, then I’ll go back to work and give Hitchcock a back rub.”

 

“I’m sensing sarcasm. You know, this backchat isn’t going to fly when we officially move in together.”

 

“Oh really? Maybe I need to rethink this whole thing.”

 

“Sure, like you can resist having this hot bod around 24/7.”

 

The woman just rolled her eyes, and thanked Albert as he handed her their receipt. They scooped up their bags and headed off, each arguing that they were holding the heaviest bags.

 

Albert looked after them with perplexity. That pair seemed very confused as to whether they hated each other or loved each other. Maybe they were unstable, or aliens pretending to be a happy couple, or actors.

 

He turned to shrug at Norma, the security guard by the door, but she was watching the couple disappear down the street with a smile. Shrugging to himself instead, Albert settled back into his thoughts, wondering whether snow minded being made into snowmen. He didn’t even notice that he was singing softly to himself.

 

_“It’s a love story, baby, just say yes”_


	9. Gabe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slightly angst in this chapter, I hope you all enjoy it though.

Gabe Montgomery needed a drink. The air was sluggish, entering his lungs as if through a straw, and seemed to clump around him like cotton wool. His fleshy face had been beaten red by the sun, his singlet clung damply to his torso, and his throat felt about as barren as his ex-wife. Gabe chuckled thickly at his own analogy, shoving open the door of his regular haunt, leaving a wet handprint on the wood.

 

The bar was worn and dark, the dim bulbs hiding all manner of sins, but not the mould in the right hand corner of the ceiling or the mustard stains on the bartender’s shirt. The décor never changed, fake fish and seashells nailed to the walls, but the price of the booze didn’t change either so it was considered a neighbourhood establishment.

 

Immediately Gabe felt the air conditioning embrace him, washing through the heat haze of his mind like a wave sweeping through sand. It smoothed over the disjointed thoughts that clunked through his head, making his problems appear distant and fragmented. All he needed now was a drink.

 

He surveyed his options. After 15 years of coming to this bar, he knew a vast majority of the clientele; men past their prime propped up on stools and slumped into booths. Tonight though, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Old Marv complaining about the heat making his joints swell. No, there was fresh blood here tonight.

 

A young man was at the bar, frosted tips glinting in the yellow light and hand clamped around a beer bottle. Despite his youth, there was something about the guy that reminded Gabe of the broken old men that lived and died coming to this place. He was hunched over the bar, his forehead only a couple inches from his bottle, glaring at the pitted wood. His entire frame was tense, from the cord of his spine to the white-knuckled grip he had on his beer bottle. This was a guy who had been knocked down, and now he was just waiting for the next blow.

 

_My kinda guy_.

 

Gabe plonked himself down on the stool next to the guy. He watched the young man out of the corner of his eye, noticing how he shuffled a little away from Gabe, arms caging around his drink. Gabe didn’t say anything at first, focusing instead of downing his first beer. And his second. When he felt the low thrum of alcohol spread through his gut and up his body, he spoke.

 

“It’s damn hot.”

 

Silence.

 

“I mean, bloody hell, Florida, take it down a notch! You know?”

 

Silence. Gabe thought the guy might have repeated “hell” to himself under his breath, but he showed no further signs of animation.

 

“You new around here?

 

Faced with a direct question, the guy reluctantly tore his gaze upwards and glanced at Gabe.

 

“Something like that.”

 

“Where you from?”

 

“Not here.”

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“Classified.”

 

Gabe barked a laugh “no, seriously.”

 

“Larry.”

 

“I’m Gabe.”

 

Silence.

 

_Jeez, this is like pulling teeth._ Gabe didn’t mind though, he just wanted someone to talk at, not make friendship bracelets with. He launched into a rambling account of his day, his life, his car; basically, anything that came into his head. After a while, he got onto his favourite subject- his divorce.

 

“I was married once, managed to gnaw my leg out of that bear trap, what a horror that was. You married?”

 

“No.”

 

“Got a girl?”

 

Silence. There was something in the way the guy squeezed his eyes shut, just for a second, which made Gabe pause.

 

“I had this girl you know, before the bear trap…” Gabe started, not really knowing what he was saying, “God, she was something special. She would just walk into a room and it would make everything, I don’t know, better. You know?”

 

The guy grunted. Gabe glanced at him, and was surprised to find something other than the stony expression he had been faced with for most of this conversation. There was sadness in those dark eyes, sadness on top of such intense pain that Gabe was momentarily silenced. A thought seemed to occur to the man, and anger flashed through his expression like lightning through thunderclouds.

 

“What’s your girl like then?” this seemed to pique the guy’s interest. He looked at Gabe narrowly, clearly assessing his lucidity. Gabe had continued to drink throughout their one-sided conversation and was now having to hold on to the bar to maintain his precarious position on the stool, his eyes blinking wetly to focus on the guy’s face.

 

“She’s…the best” the guy started hesitatingly. Gabe didn’t say anything, distracted by the empty sound his beer bottle made as he put it down.

 

“She’s the smartest person I know… and she’s good at everything…” he was picking up speed now, becoming more animated “and she’s tough, but she’s adorable and nerdy, and she’s sweet, and she’s always cold, and she has a favourite pen, and she like polish food, and she is really competitive, and she’s terrifying when she’s angry, and she’s cute, and she buys me orange soda, and her hair is really soft, and…her smile…”

 

“Wow, you’ve got it bad.”

 

A small grin overtook the guy’s face, the closest to happiness Gabe had seen from him so far.

 

“Oh, I know.”

 

Then there was pain again.

 

“Where is she?”

 

“Not here.”

 

“Something you did?”

 

“Not really. Stuff happened. It’s complicated.”

 

“Sounds like a cop out to me.”

 

Irritated, the guy looked over at Gabe.

 

“What do you know about it?”

 

“I know you need to get her back.” Gabe didn’t really know anything, he was a drunk guy who needed to give advice, it didn’t matter what it was on.

 

“It’s not about getting her back, like I said, it’s complicated.”

 

Gabe watched the young man for a couple seconds before speaking again.

 

“Look, Barry” Gabe was starting to slur, his fifth beer catching up with him “figure out whatever you gotta figure out to get her back, ok? Get her a puppy, girls love puppies.”

 

“She’s allergic.” The guy did seem to consider Gabe’s words though, distractedly turning the sticker of his beer into confetti. “I could figure it out though…”

 

“That’s the spirit!” Gabe said cheerily, slapping the guy on the back, vaguely aware that he was talking too loudly.

 

“Right. Ok. Good” the guy was sitting up straight now, and Gabe caught a glimpse of someone else, not a broken man bent over a bar, but someone with bright, alert eyes, the hint of a smile on his lips, and a little bit of steel at his core.

 

“By the way, Gabe, how’d this bar get its name?”

 

Confused, Gabe shook ahead to clear away the soothing fog that was overtaking his mind.

 

“Think the guy who built it named it after his sister.” He cocked his head, trying to remember “I heard she got mixed up in some gang stuff and got killed. Proper gory as well, a body parts in the mail kind of situation, she-”

 

Abruptly, the guy stood.

 

“I’ve got to go.” As he turned to leave, Gabe caught a glimpse of something in the man’s eyes. Fear. Fear mixed with something hard, determined.

 

As the door slammed behind the man, the fluorescent sign on the wall flickered before righting itself. _The Amy_. Gabe contemplated the sign for half a minute, before staggering over to some of the old timers. Young people made no sense.

 

In the morning, Gabe was left with a pounding headache, a sore throat and very few memories the night before. Later that day though, when one of his buddies called his wife a cow, for a moment a face with pained eyes and a mouth taut with anguish flashed through his mind, and he didn’t laugh. He just raised his beer to the sign on the wall and took a sip.


	10. Rachel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set just before Coral Palms pt. 3. Don't worry, it's much fluffier than the last chapter! I've had this written for a while and just got around to posting it, I hope you enjoy it.

Rachel Lee didn’t have time to worry about her neighbour. She had three children, her husband worked ridiculous hours and her building’s super was yet to fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen. Yet why was it, whenever she saw the girl, she paused.

 

As a neighbour, she was pretty much as good as they came, quiet and polite, friendly without being obnoxious, a work ethic that Rachel balked at. Everything she did she executed perfectly, from her geometrically pristine collars to her textbook recycling. She was a good role model for her children, and Rachel appreciated that. She did wish the girl would just relax a bit though; it was like watching a string on a guitar being tightened twist by twist, just waiting for the final “twang”.

 

Then the boyfriend came into the picture. Rachel liked him. When she would pass him in the mornings with her little brood, he would often smile at her, give the kids a wink and tell occasionally them a stupid joke that sent them into fits of giggles. She was pretty sure her eldest had a crush on him.

 

The best thing about him however, was the lightness that he brought to the girl. Rachel saw an entirely new side to the girl, a new kind of smile, all shining teeth and beaming eyes, which spread over her face so naturally that Rachel wondered at her not noticing it before. Rachel could always tell when the boy was out of town by the absence of that smile.

 

The pair just seemed to fit together. They moved like a unit, like a pack of two, each always aware of the other. They talked like the best of friends, like children playfully teasing each other just enough to know they were cared for. They looked at each other like the characters of a romcom.

 

Of course, from time to time they would make a too much noise for the thin walls, or would stand a bit too long in the hallway for a good-bye kiss, but no neighbour was perfect.

 

To be honest, in her heart, Rachel was a pretty big fan of the couple. They reminded her of her early years with her husband. Sure, the pair would mock each other and squabble, but there was a deep affection below that, the kind that she would have expected from a couple that had been together much longer than those two had.

 

Then the boyfriend stopped coming.

 

Rachel could not have predicted it; there had been no cracks in the veneer, no signs of a storm on the horizon. One day, the couple had appeared as strong as ever, and the next the boy was gone and the girl had manically braided her hair. She didn’t understand it- the girl had been away for three weeks, and the whole time since she had returned all Rachel could hear from the pair was laughter, happy conversation, and sounds it would not be appropriate for her children to notice. Then there was silence, like the hushed still following a gunshot.

 

Rachel didn’t see the girl for a while; she seemed to curl into herself, the brilliant smile a distant memory. She worked ludicrous hours, leaving before Rachel awoke and returning after she had put the kids to bed. Rachel only knew she was leaving the house at all as apparently it was occasionally necessary for her to slam the door on returning to her desolate home.

 

Rachel couldn’t make sense of it. If they hadn’t had a fight, had he moved away? For some reason she couldn’t believe that, she couldn’t really believe in any reason that they’d break up willingly. Could they be trying long distance? No, that was _loss_ in the girl’s red-rimmed eyes, not the stress of a long distance relationship. Had he cheated? But that the anger thinly veiled in her precise walk and permanently gritted teeth was not that of betrayal; it was something else, something much simpler and more direct. Could he be dead? She felt it was callous to even consider that as an option, but for the few seconds she considered it she knew that it wasn’t the answer. From time to time the girl would just get these looks of wild hope and fierce determination, and nothing Rachel could think of could explain that.

 

The Saturday after the cessation of visits from the boy, Rachel encountered the girl collecting her mail. She was not the same girl that she had lived next to for these past six years. The girl’s hair was in a messy bun, she had bags hung under her eyes like bruises, and she was huddled inside a blue hoodie too large for her. Her eyes were like shards of glass held together with tape, ready to fall apart at any second, her very fragility making her dangerous.

 

Rachel had looked at the girl concerned, lips trying and failing to mouth words as she took in the bitten nails, clenched jaw, shoulders that sloped as if pulled down by anchors. Guilt clutched Rachel’s stomach at her own inability to say anything comforting. The thing was, there was nothing to say. Rachel didn’t know why the boy wasn’t here anymore, and there was nothing she could say that would change that.

 

Rachel had to content herself with letting the mystery go.

 

Over time her neighbour gradually returned to some semblance of normalcy, going to work, coming home, watching TV, sleeping. She would nod to Rachel in the hallway with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, self-consciously straighten her collar and dash away, always in a rush to be somewhere.

 

Friends of the girl would come by; a curly-haired woman, a woman with a phone glued to her hand, a small man smelling strongly of cologne. Rachel didn’t like these visitors; the curly-haired woman terrified her kids, the woman with the phone didn’t seem to be able to complete a sentence without using made up words, the small man always lugged around Tupperware of disgusting foods. Worst of all, they all had the same underlying expressions of helpless worry and concern, like bystanders at the site of an accident.

 

Rachel wished the boy would just come back already.

 

* * *

 

Rachel was heading to the laundry room when the first rumblings of change were felt. Running feet, eager voices, the girl bolting past Rachel and into her own apartment, the little man jogging behind her and gesticulating excitedly.

 

“Hurry, Amy, hurry!”

 

“I know, I know!” the girl’s eager voice came from her apartment, the door to which she hadn’t closed. Rachel had just caught a glimpse of her face as she had rushed past- there had been anxiety, yes, but there had also been such intense hope that for a moment Rachel had been stunned. She knew immediately that this was about the boy.

 

Rachel realised that she was just standing there, staring at the man, who was jumping up and down by the girl’s doorway, and the girl, who was zipping around her apartment, shoving neatly folded items into a duffel bag. Shaking herself, this was still New York after all, she started off down the hallway, refusing to look back. This wasn’t her business and she had to stay out of it.

 

Such thoughts were erased from her head when the man and her neighbour bustled past her again, chattering disjointed phrases at each other, but both too excited to really listen to what the other was saying.

 

The girl’s hopeful eyes never looked back, her pace increasing as a horn outside honked. The man did an actual, real-life, heel click before they rushed around the corner.

 

Rachel didn’t know what was going on, but God, she would have given good money to find out. All the same though, she couldn’t help the grin that overtook her face as she remembered how a hint of that old lightness had appeared around the girl, as if she had stepped on a small, but unshakable, cloud.

 

* * *

 

Rachel was helping her youngest with his homework when she heard the girl return. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when the familiar male voice answered her, eliciting a laugh from the girl. Ignoring her son, she crept to the front door and opened it just a little, peaking out hopefully. There he was. He was on crutches, and his hair was stupid, but the grin on his face was even stupider as he looked at the girl, who seemed too busy smiling herself to focus on opening her apartment door.

 

The boy bumped her affectionately with his shoulder.

 

“Ames, come on, are you seriously going to make a cripple stand around all day?”

 

The girl rolled her eyes, completely failing to keep the joy out of her voice.

 

“Don’t irritate me Peralta, or I’ll shoot you in your other leg.”

 

“That’s so hot.”

 

The girl’s laugh rang out again, meaning that she had laughed more today than she had in the past six months. She went to open the door but the boy stopped her by leaning his weight on one crutch, grabbing at her elbow with his free hand, and pulling her towards him.

 

See, this was _just_ the kind of kiss Rachel would have complained of a few months ago, but now she just smiled to herself and let the door click shut, feeling a warm, tingly feeling bubble through her.

 

“Mummy, what’s wrong?” her son had followed her to the door and was now watching her, perplexed.

 

“Oh, nothing, Honey. Have you finished your fractions yet?”

 

* * *

 

 

That night, when her husband finally came home, Rachel was waiting for him. As he finally pushed open the door with a tired sigh, Rachel darted off the couch like a much younger woman, practically skipping to the surprised man in the doorway.

 

“You’re still up?” he sounded pleased but confused.

 

“I wanted to see you today” she replied with a laugh, wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck.

 

“What’s so funny?” his bemused expression had become playful as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

 

“Nothing, I’m just glad you’re back.”

 

The next morning, when Rachel was woken by the girl’s laugh, she didn’t mind one bit.


End file.
